Support Alhambra Source

Dogs in Almansor Park? *Updated

As of Monday morning, half of of the 60 respondents so far to our poll on where a dog park should be in Alhambra supported the creation of an off-leash park within an existing local park, and nearly a quarter said it should be in an independent location. Almansor Park remains the most popular suggestion from readers, but Alhambra Park is gaining popularity.

If you have not already participated in our survey about where to place a dog park, you can put your responses below. We will share comments and continute to update results.

Originally posted 3.30.12

A dog-friendly park is in the near future, Alhambra city officials maintain.

“We’ve been getting a lot of requests, and rightly so," Alhambra City Manager Julio Fuentes said at Monday night's meeting. "We all have our pets and we want them to be healthy and happy, so let's see what we can come up with.”

Alhambra will soon begin surveying other communities about maintaining parks that allow canines, city officials revealed. (An Alhambra law, dating back to the 1970s, bars dogs from entering all the public parks in the city, even while kept on a leash.) A crucial question regarding creation of a dog park remains size, according to Fuentes. "We can afford to do it, it’s just finding a location that’s large enough so that the smaller dogs can have their space, as well as the larger dogs. We’re looking at a couple of locations,” he said. “We want to be as dog friendly as we can.”

We asked Alhambra Source readers what they thought was a solution to the dog park issue in Alhambra, and most of the 28 respondents so far supported the creation of an off-leash park within an existing local park. Almansor Park is by far the most popular suggestion from readers. Fuentes, however, said Almansor is not a good option because it is an “active park, ”meaning that most of it is dedicated to a wide variety of activities and sports.

If you have not already participated in our survey about where to place a dog park, you can put your responses below. We will share comments and the results.

Unless if you live at Phil Spector’s property, the average lot size in Alhambra can reasonably accommodate 2 dogs max. More than two is known as “animal hoarding”, a well-known mental illness.

I have a neighbor with a dog (I myself have one as well, but is well-trained and only barks when an unknown person walks onto my property) who they “trained” to bark constantly and at all hours. These neighbors speak no English and I discovered after countless phone calls to Alhambra PD and the LA County Animal Control that I am basically powerless to stop the nuisance…unless I get the signatures of the rest of my non-English speaking neighbors to sign a petition.

People already take their dogs to Alhambra parks, leash or no leash. The 'No Dogs' are ignored and city ordinances regarding dogs are not enforced. This is a moot topic. Alhambra parks are already dog parks.

How 'bout a combo: one park to be used for an off-leash park and at least one (I vote for 3) other park(s) where we can bring our pets on leash. Why do I have to drive to San Marino to Lacy Park to walk my leashed dog, and then, only on week days for non San Marino residents (or pay on the weekends)? Not all pet guardians are comfortable having their dogs off leash and this suggestion would be a solution for almost everyone.

I went to a dog park in Orange County that wasn't just a piece of flat land. It was a combination of flat and hilly areas. I have thought for years that Granada Park would be a great place for a dog park, because of the landscape and it's a huge park.

As the owner of two active dogs, I should support the concept of a dog park. However, issues with irresponsible owners and untrained dogs have made me wary of taking my dogs to the existing parks in neighboring cities. City staff would need to be on site to ensure that dogs are licensed (otherwise, you are risking the health of your pets;) – and the park would need to be cleaned daily. So the question is: do you support the expenditure of necessary city funds to guarantee that the park will be safe and clean? I do – but are the Alhambra tax payers willing to pay? Merely fencing off an area is not enough.

Two years “studying the situation?” this is RIDICULUS! Two years??? We (Alhambrians) have to travel elsewhere to enjoy a Dog Park, we lack Bicycle Paths so again we have to travel elsewhere to enjoy our recreation as well as to have our dogs run around…come-on, if Alhambra leadership needs two years to “study” what is a simple solution I view this as a lack of leadership & forsight, seems to me Alhambra is slowly crumbling & just stuck in the past.

One of the issues with dogs in Alhambra parks are gang bangers, wannabes, and their aggressive looking pit bulls. You will need to address this as part of any solution you throw out there. One of the reasons I support the no dog rule is that I generally feel safe not having to deal with gang bangers and their thuggish dogs coming over from L.A. Perhaps banning certain dogs from the city or restricting dogs allowed to those that do not need extra harnesses or muzzles beyond a collar and leash.